 The ruined streets and hundreds of killed unarmed civilians – these are the realities in the Kyiv region, including Bucha and Irpen, liberated from the Russian troops. If we look at the events during the occupation of Kyiv’s suburbs by Russian soldiers as a separate episode, these are undoubtedly war crimes under international and Ukrainian law. However, if we consider this in the context of the “final solution of the Ukrainian issue” against the background of all Russia’s actions against Ukraine over the past 8 years, then now is the time to raise the question of the concept of genocide to assess what is happening in Ukraine.
Who, and on what grounds, will be responsible for the inhumane crimes of the Russian occupiers? – lawyer and Professor at the UCU School of Law Andriy Kostyuk and Svitlana Khilyuk, Head of the UCU School of Law, answered this and the following questions.
On the one hand there is war and suffering, destruction and blood, death of children, and fear of the future; on the other is peace and happiness, building life and joy of relationships, children's laughter, and confidence in the future. These are bare nerves which reveal two poles of life in Ukraine now. How can Christian faith and reason reconcile these two opposing realities? At first glance, this is impossible. In fact, these two absolutely different worlds belong to the same God-created planet. It is this royal creation of God that can give away one’s life and live forever; can fear the destruction of one’s home and make plans to rebuild the country; can smile through the lonely tears and feel the family warmth and comfort while sitting in a damp basement next to strangers.
The war in Ukraine, in its visible and invisible dimensions, is like a tensely pulsating epicenter of Ukrainian humanity, in which two deep national processes continue synchronously, reaching their culmination. The first one is the radical spiritual cleansing of the people from deception, irresponsibility, unbelief, and selfishness. The second is the absorption into the blood, flesh and soul of the nation of the moral values, which, like healed chromosomes, translate Ukrainian DNA to the level of integrity and unity that the fathers of the nation have dreamed of since princely times. These two processes, which stem from the depths of faith, prayer, and the sacrifice of our ancestors, are unfolding more and more rapidly in the people's consciousness. Every day, every hour and every minute, every Ukrainian heart, mind, and hand are increasingly filled with God's power, which helps to gain both the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 11: 11-15) and an earthly Ukraine, where dignity, solidarity, brotherhood, and readiness for self-sacrifice are the main features of our dual citizenship.
Viktor Zhukovskyy
as of 17.00, 9 March
(14th day of war)
1. MILITARY SITUATION
 The Russian troops continue simultaneously attacking Ukraine from the territory of Russia, Belarus and the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk regions and Crimea. This is full-scale war, launched by Russia against Ukraine, not a “conflict in Ukraine”. Proper wording is critical, including within the international organizations.
Доповідь: {audio}some_philosophical_terminology_1.mp3{/audio}
Дискусія: {audio}some_philosophical_terminology_2.mp3{/audio}
 A war of the people is first of all a spiritual war: a war between the true and the deceptive, the eternal and the temporary, what is worthy and what is vile, the sound and the degraded… It is war that reveals a nation’s value and “backbone”, the quality of its spiritual leaven, its salinity in order to be “salt of the earth”, and the capacity of every person. The person who opposes evil does not have the fear of death, the instinct of self-preservation. Their selfish desires disappear and something extraordinary, human, and at the same time, supernatural appears. The people, as a single body, are recast in the furnace of faith, hope, and sacrifice and move to another level - the level of a “greater love”, when everyone feels ready to “lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). Everyone becomes a Warrior of God, a “centurion”, with the greatest faith that Christ could find (Matt. 8:10). At this Human and Divine level, the “I” recedes far into the background. Our life transforms into a total “We”. Faith, prayer, and life form a more condensed unity. Every fighter of this visible and invisible battle is internally aware of not only being a citizen of Ukraine, but also, as Justin the Martyr wrote in the second century, feels like an eternal citizen of the “heavenly country” who can not be killed by any weapon because the Commander-in-Chief is Jesus Christ the Victor.
Students of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology of the Ukrainian Catholic University are fighting on two fronts: the visible and invisible. They believe, pray, and work for victory!
Viktor Zhukovskyy
Минулого тижня, 17 грудня, в Одесі відкрили нову сертифікатну програму кафедри богослов’я УКУ «Християнин перед суспільними викликами часу». Учасниками цього проекту стали підприємці, фермери, працівники сфери культури й науки Одещини та Миколаївщини. У відкритті програми та в першому модулі взяли участь Віктор Жуковський, завідувач кафедри богослов’я УКУ, Тарас Дзюбанський, голова Центру міжконфесійного та міжрелігійного діалогу «Лібертас», Олександр Сугоняко, президент Асоціації українських банків, Петро Дарморіс, голова центру протидії корупції УГКЦ. З вітальним словом до організаторів та учасників звернувся о. д-р Андрій Танасійчук, канцлер Одеського екзархату.
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Дискусія: {audio}dukhovne_nastavnytstvo_2.mp3{/audio}
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